Groot (Earth-616)
Real Name: Groot Nicknames: none Former Aliases: The Monster from Planet X Other Current Aliases: No other known current aliases __TOC__ Status Occupation: former Monarch of Planet X Legal Status: Legal status unknown Identity: Secret Marital Status: Marital status unknown Group Affiliation: the Howling Commandos Base of Operations: Area 13 (the Howling Commandos' base) Origin Groot is an alien from Planet X. He claims to be the Monarch of Planet X Place of Birth: (presumably) Planet X Known Relatives: No known relatives First Appearance: Tales to Astonish Vol. 1, No. 13 (November 1960) History In the Autumn of 1960, scientist Leslie Evans and girlfrind Alice witnesses a blinding object falling from the sky. When Evans went to investigate the next day, he not only found the object, but discovered it was alive. Evans looked on as the alien creature, Groot, grew larger by the minute as he absorbed wooden objects into his own body. There in the woods, Groot announced his presenece to the nearby community Claiming to be the Monarch of Planet X, Groot announced that he had come to Earth to take a small Terran town back to his homeworld for its scientists to study. While the humans resisted, no gunfire, or even conventional fire could penetrate Groot's hide. Seeing the futility of fighting, Evans abandonned the townspeople and raced back to his laboratory, being labeled a coward in the process. Over the next three days, Groot used his power to control trees and plants to turn the forest into a make-shift army, his intention being to use Earth's native vegetation to create a net of roots to allow him to lift the town into space whole. When Groot entered the town, Evans snuck up behind him and unleashed the fruits of his frantic work: a specially bred colony of termites. The insect voraciously ate through Groots hide, and into his core. Collapsing, Groot was believed dead by the townsfolk. Later, however, Groot was seen alive and captured in Collector's zoo beneath Canada. When the Mole Man attacked the Collector in his lair, the security in the Collector's zoo failed, and the monsters were released. When the stampede of monsters arrived in New York, the Thing and the Hulk engaged the group. They were then joined by the Beast and Giant-Man. Together, the four heroes defeated the horde of monsters, including Groot, Grottu, Grogg , Gargantus, Droom, Rommbu, Taboo, Tragg, and Vandoom's Monster. Afterwards, the Hulk hurled all the monsters through a portal and into the Negative Zone. At some point, Groot returned to Earth, supposedly to Monster Isle. Later, Groot was tracked down and engaged by a unit of the Howling Commandos of Area 13, a branch of SHIELD dedicated to tackling supernatural threats through supernatural means. Groot had blended into the surrounding woodland, despite his size, but was ferreted out by Sasquatch and the Abominable Snowman's sense of smell. The unit -- also including Gorilla Man and Warwolf -- disoriented Groot with high-pitch sonics and brings him down. Teleported to Areaa 13, Gorilla Man gives Groot his options: either join Area 13 as part of the the solution, or be imprisoned as part of the problem. When a horde of fantastic creatures under the control of Merlin poured into Area 13 through a magical portal, The larger creatures were released for their cells, causing a stampeed. Arriving in Merlin's territory on the other side of the portal, Groot met up again with the Howling Commandos. Realizing that Area 13 would just catch up to him again if he escaped, and that the landscape had been so warped by magic that it was actually painful, Groot this time offered to assist the commandos. Characteristics Height: (previously) 50' 0", (currently) 125' 0" Weight: xxx lbs (xxx kg) Eyes: brown (pupilless) Hair: none Skin: Brown bark Unusual Features: Groot is completely composed of dense wood with a tough bark hide and branch-like protrusions. Powers Known Powers: Groot feeds by absorbing wooden objects into his body, and can even grow larger by absorbing such objects. Groot's hide is composed of wood dense enough and durable enough to make him immune to most conventional weapons, including gunfire and fire which would consume most woods. Groot can animate and command trees and plants, capable of even ordering a whole forest to uproot itself as an improvised army. Known Abilities: No known abilities. Strength Level: Strength level unknown Miscellaneous Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons. Notes * The Planet X which is home to Goom and Googam, as well as the Planet X of Kurrgo seen in Fantastic Four Vol. 1, No. 7 (October 1962) -- later named Xanth in the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe -- may or may not be the same planet X from which Groot claims to come. Since the Planet X of Fantastic Four fame has since been destroyed, this would explain why Groot still hasn't returned home. * In Tales of Suspense No. 4 (July 1959), explorers from Earth encountered a seemingly uninhabited planet in system 427 in the year 2500. It turns out that the planet was actually dominated by sentient, animate trees. It is unknown if there is any connection between this race of trees and Groot. Alternate Groots *In the Incredible Hulk Vol. 2, Annual 5, Xemnu the Titan created robot replicas of five monsters, including Groot, to battle the Hulk. The replica Groot also had the ability to fire thorns from his hands as missles, though Groot himself has never demonstrated this ability. *In Sensational Spider-Man No. -1 (July 1997), Nightmare created apparitions of several classic Marvel monsters to torment a sleeping Peter Parker. Trivia * Recommended Readings A complete list of appearances is available at Groot's Appearances page. Related Articles * External Links * References *Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, No. 2 (January 2006) *Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone (and the Monster Hunters) *Groot's profile and related articles at Monster Blog *Prime Eternal's online profile of Groot at Jeff Christiansen's Unofficial Handbook to the Marvel Universe ---- Category:Characters Category:Article Request Category:Image Needed